TGN Focus – Learning From the Best #2 – Steve Jobs

After all of the Hollywood portrayals, the hype around Apple’s products, and the general worship surrounding him, Steve Jobs may seem like a bit of jump on the bandwagon for this series, but there’s a reason the guy was such an influence in popular culture. He did some pretty cool stuff and had some pretty spectacular ideas about how we approach technology from a purely human perspective. To him, technology should be as simple and understandable as an apple – and his philosophy still drives the thought process behind today’s innovations. Let’s talk about Jobs…

Just Who Was He?

Steve Jobs was the founder and business brain behind Apple Computers for the majority of its existence before he died in 2011. He was controversial and a bit of a jerk at times (though perhaps exaggerated in the latest movie about his life), but in the end his goal was simple: Simplicity.

“Steve Jobs was an expert in what

really mattered to people.”

What’s He Known For?

Aside from being the face behind one of the largest companies in existence, Steve Jobs was an expert in what really mattered to people. He didn’t want to talk about the iPod’s 5GB of space, he wanted to talk about fitting 1000 songs in your pocket. It’s that kind of perspective that revitalized Apple’s brand after a tough time competing with Microsoft over the home and business computer market. To him, technology wasn’t a series of specifications, stats, and comparisons, it was an answer to a question: how can I make my life easier?

What Can We Learn From Him?

As YouTubers, as entertainers and entrepreneurs, ultimately our videos are personal bits of enjoyment in a viewer’s day. It’s a very human need that we fulfill as content creators, and as we market ourselves on social media or work to grow our viewership and build our following, this human appeal is something that should be front and centre.

“Got a brand new sword on my #Nightblade! Check it out on my channel #ESO (link post here)”

While your new sword might be a great personal accomplishment, is it something you would click on if you came across that Tweet from somebody else? Would it matter to you that someone else got a new sword? Let’s say that you’re tracking comments on VISO Catalyst, and your viewers are asking you a lot about your character’s build. Maybe it’s a leveling build, for example. How would you talk differently with that information? Maybe…

With this format, you’re letting your viewers know that they’ll take something away from your video (i.e., a Nightblade leveling build, and how to grind more efficiently), rather than simply watch you get a new sword. It’s like the age old marketer’s credo says: “it’s not about features, it’s about benefits.” Steve Jobs was a master at it, and that’s a takeaway worth keeping.